A young Schuylkill County mother who put her dead newborn's body in the trash has pleaded guilty to concealing the death of a child and abuse of a corpse.

Judge James Goodman on Dec. 10 accepted the plea of Tara Paltanavage, 23, of Middleport. He ordered a pre-sentence investigation before imposing punishment at 2 p.m. Jan. 26, 2015.

Prosecutors in October dropped a charged of recklessly endangering another person.

Paltanavage, who turned 23 the day of her plea, told police she gave birth the baby girl on July 29 in the shower of a small, ramshackle house she shared with two other people. Paltanavage told police that when she lifted the baby from the water, she was not breathing. She told police she did not call 911 or call for help. Instead, according to an affidavit of probable cause, she wrapped the tiny body in a red towel, which she put in a trash bag, then put more household trash on top of it.

Then, according to police, she put the bag outside to be taken away with the trash. On Aug. 5, Paltanavage's roommates, Kayla Stoops and Joseph Jiminez, took their own trash out and discovered the body after looking for the source of a terrible Odor emanating from Paltanavage's bag.

Schuylkill County coroner David Moylan has said the body was too badly decomposed to immediately determine a cause and manner of death.

Although she had steadily gained weight and had morning sickness in the months leading up the birth, Paltanavage denied being pregnant, police learned.